FIU partners with Veterans Education Project to provide additional support to student veterans
FIU’s Veterans and Military Affairs (VMA) has partnered with the Veterans Education Project to help provide veteran students and veteran dependents additional support as well as develop models on how to address obstacles they may face as they progress toward graduation.
The Veterans Education Project is a nonpartisan research, engagement and policy program that works with higher education institutions and helps them meet the needs of student veterans.
Through joint programming and evaluations, the Veterans Education Project will work with FIU to develop innovative holistic prior learning assessments and competency-based evaluations for student veterans and increase the number of credits accepted by universities.
“We are proud of our new partnership with FIU,” said Daniel Elkins, founder of Veterans Education Project. “FIU is doing amazing things to help student veterans. With unique programs designed to help service members to gain degrees faster and a team of staff dedicated to specifically serving the student veteran population, we encourage veterans everywhere to look at FIU.”
With more than 1,400 veteran students, FIU has developed programming and systems that are aimed at helping student veterans succeed. This includes a dedicated veterans resource office and staff, housed inside FIU’s first building, the airport tower.
FIU has a long-standing history of advocating for and was the first in the state to offer in-state tuition to veterans regardless of their state of origin and has developed programs aimed at teaching veterans’ life skills such as beekeeping and farming. The university also is a host site of the prestigious Vets Success on Campus that give students the additional support services provided by the Veterans Administration.
Most recently, the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs held its second Graduating Veterans Recognition Ceremony to honor veteran and military-affiliated graduates of the class of Spring 2019. In addition to the customary red, white and blue cords, veterans received honor stoles and certificates. This year, dependent scholars were also given a challenge coin in the military tradition.
“At FIU we are eager to partner with like-minded organizations to provide our veteran students the necessary support they need,” said Amanda Niguidula, director of the Veteran and Military Affairs. “We know well the dedication, service and sacrifice of our students who are in the military or are military veterans. It is an honor to be able to provide them with educational opportunities that will help them translate their valuable skills and give them the tools to succeed in college and beyond.”